Showtime Orders History Doc From Oliver Stone

Showtime has ordered a 10 part documentary series from Oliver Stone that looks at underreported, yet crucial, moments from U.S. history.

The series, Oliver Stone’s Secret History of America, will present events that, while initially underreported, have since helped to define America’s history over the last 60 years. Topics will include the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to the origins of the Cold War.

“Oliver is a brand, he is a brand in his own right, which makes not just the content more interesting, but the idea of this whole series from him instantly interesting to our universe,” Showtime CEO Matt Blank told B&C.

Oliver Stone’s Secret History of America, will premiere in 2010, with the pay cable network targeting a summer launch. Network executives say the doc will be a “longer gestating show” due to the massive amount of archival footage the director has been combing through for the series. Stone is also in production on the sequel to his 1987 feature film Wall Street, which will be released next year.

“It is a different sort of programming for us,” Showtime entertainment president Bob Greenblatt told B&C. “Oliver is his own sort of visionary, he likes to be provocative, and to find things that no one else is seeing.”